What Needs to Be Included in Hyrule Warriors, the New Zelda Action Game

During the latest Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata announced a collaboration with Tecmo Koei to create a new action title in the style of the popular Dynasty Warriors series, but set in the land of Hyrule, starring our green clad hero, tentatively named Hyrule Warriors. This is both great and okay news, however. Tecmo Koei is developing the title which offers them a massive library of content to choose from and include in the title. The trailer right away shows two enemies from Skyward Sword, the latest of the console entries: Bokoblins and Lizalfos. At a glance, you would assume that they’ll be going with the latest Zelda elements to incorporate into this title, until suddenly there appears the Infernal Dinosaur, King Dodongo, from Ocarina of Time. Yes, yes, yes.

At the conclusion of the reveal, Iwata says that this game is not the next Legend of Zelda title, and thus should not be considered canon, holding it as simply a very badass collaboration. With King Dodongo in the picture, I am hoping that the developers will use their source material wisely and include pretty damn near everything from the Zelda series over the years. While Dynasty Warriors titles are widely regarded as quick, exciting, action games, allowing plenty of exciting moves and scenarios fighting tons of enemies, they are also frequently criticized for being repetitive. It would be a downright shame if the developers choose to stick with just a handful of enemies to occupy their title, when there are so many to choose from.

Kill, maim, eat.

As for gameplay, it seems like Hyrule Warriors won’t be playing very differently from your standard Dynasty Warriors title, and that’s great. However, as aforemention, there’s always that complaint about how the gameplay itself can feel repetitive. Fortunately, puzzles and generally creative level design makes up a huge portion of the Legend of Zelda series. Once again, there are plenty of ideas ripe for the picking, and hopefully some of these can translate into some new and very creative scenarios to help Hyrule Warriors have more streamlined gameplay with plenty of variety to keep players interested for a long time. Personally, I don’t keep up with the DynastyWarriors series, having just played a few back in the PS2 days, but, for these reasons, I’m really eager to play Hyrule Warriors and see how they can help their own original series evolve from this opportunity.

Likewise, Link’s arsenal is one of the most colorful in any video game series, and this offers the chance to include varied gameplay mechanics and fighting styles. From boomerangs to flails to hookshots to various magical attacks, we’ll have to wait and see if many of these are implemented in the game, allowing for various strategies and tactics to ensure your victory. Of course, Link isn’t the only one who kicks ass in the Zelda series though.

Link finds Marcellus Wallace’s soul.

As per DynastyWarriors tradition, there ought to be a slew of characters to choose from Link. If Hyrule Warriors does decide to grab characters from every Zelda title and era, you can probably expect Princess Zelda and Sheik. Other options would be Ganondorf, Midna, the Hero’s Shade, Impa, a Zora, a Goron, and if they’re feeling extra bold, Hilda and Ravio from the new A Link Between Worlds.

This can be an incredible game, but only if they put in proper effort. Tecmo Koei has a wealth of source material to draw from and create a Hyrule Warriors boasting both style and substance. We know they can make a fun, action-packed title, but we’re all hoping for a class act with plenty of variety and quality all around. This is their chance to streamline the gameplay and make, not just a great collaboration game, but their best Warriors entry yet. The ingredients are all there, and it’s up to the developers to bake that wonderful action title everyone would love to play. We’ll be sure to let you know when more information on the Wii U-exclusive Hyrule Warriors emerges.